Best cheap .38 or .357 factory defense ammo?

T

TruthTellers

New member
I got to thinking about this thanks to a topic on another forum where someone said they don't see the point of owning a certain caliber if he can't regularly shoot his preferred defense ammo in it without breaking the bank. It's been so long since I really thought about factory revolver ammo as I reload, so this thinking caught me off guard and I can't think of any factory .38 or .357 ammo that was affordable and also a good performing round.

Most .38 videos I've seen have all been about premium defense ammo and even in that stuff you can have failures. The .357, I've seen Winchester's 110 grain JHP bullet do fine. Light for the caliber, but it worked and IDK any other .357 JHP ammo as cheap as it.

Unlike with 9mm or .40 where Winchester makes some good, affordable JHP's that could be shot regularly, I know of few or no such factory offerings in .38 or .357 that are "affordable" to shoot regularly.
 
Walmart sells Remington 125 gr SJHPs in a 100 round bulk pac. Has a stated MV of 1450fps. I haven't bought any for a while(since I roll my own) but I believe it was around $60 OTD.

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Be aware, Remington 125gr SJHP is a known round for hammering the forcing cone.

Look up. I bought a 1,000 rounds at one point before finding this out :)
 
For your self defence ammo, forget the cost and buy the best.

Federal 125 JHP. This stuff has a ton of "Street Cred" with LE.
 
Remington is having a $3 per box rebate on HTP ammo purchased no later than 7/31.

Lucky Gunner has Rem HTP 357 Magnum 158gr SJHP for $26.75 a box (at least $41 everywhere else I've seen it).

I just bought two boxes, and after shipping and rebates it was $66, or $0.66 per round.

And it's forcing cone friendly.
 
TruthTellers said:
I got to thinking about this thanks to a topic on another forum where someone said they don't see the point of owning a certain caliber if he can't regularly shoot his preferred defense ammo in it without breaking the bank. It's been so long since I really thought about factory revolver ammo as I reload, so this thinking caught me off guard and I can't think of any factory .38 or .357 ammo that was affordable and also a good performing round.

Most .38 videos I've seen have all been about premium defense ammo and even in that stuff you can have failures. The .357, I've seen Winchester's 110 grain JHP bullet do fine. Light for the caliber, but it worked and IDK any other .357 JHP ammo as cheap as it.

Unlike with 9mm or .40 where Winchester makes some good, affordable JHP's that could be shot regularly, I know of few or no such factory offerings in .38 or .357 that are "affordable" to shoot regularly.
Click to expand...

Define affordable. What price range is affordable to you?
 
Sgt127 said:
Speer Gold dot .38 Special for .44 cents a round.

https://www.targetsportsusa.com/spe...special-ammo-125-grain-jhp-53722-p-58579.aspx

.42 cents a round for 158 gr .357 Remington.

https://www.targetsportsusa.com/rem...mi-jacketed-hollow-point-rtp357m2-p-4075.aspx

180 gr .357 Magnum for .48 cents a round.

https://www.targetsportsusa.com/rem...i-jacketed-hollow-point-rtp357m10-p-4077.aspx


Please look at Targetsports. Your options are almost unlimited at your price point.
Click to expand...
I wonder how that Remington 180gr 35ag SJHP would perform
 
1036 x 1036 pixels is too big.
Any factory ammo is going to be expensive to shoot regularly. So is any jacketed bullet for reloading. And it'll be worse if you buy the stuff on-line and get to pay shipping and hazmat fees.
Plus you need to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your revolver shoots best.
 
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